MARINETTE, Wis., Oct. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — The U.S. Navy awarded the Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and FincantieriMarinette Marine (FMM) team a contract to build an additional LCS. The contract value is under the 2017 congressional cost cap of $584 million per ship.

LCS 27 will be built at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, the Midwest’s only naval shipyard, and is the 14th Freedom-variant LCS ordered by the U.S. Navy to date.

“We are excited to continue our partnership with the U.S. Navy to build and deliver these capable ships to the fleet,” said Joe DePietro, vice president of small surface combatants and ship systems. “With the Freedom-variant now in serial production, our team is increasing efficiency with each ship produced and working to maintain ship and program affordability.”

Since the LCS program’s inception, Freedom-variant LCS production has injected hundreds of millions of dollars into local economies throughout the Midwest. The program supports thousands of direct and indirect jobs throughout the United States, including more than 7,500 in Michigan and Wisconsin alone.

“Every day, more than 2,500 workers pass through our shipyard’s gates, put on their hard hats and proudly build these American warships,” said Jan Allman, FMM president and CEO. “Our workforce takes great pride in building these ships for the U.S. Navy and we are grateful for the opportunity to build another ship on our hot production line.”

The Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine team is currently in full-rate production of the Freedom-variant, and has delivered five ships to the U.S. Navy to date, including the future USS Little Rock which was delivered to the U.S. Navy on Sept. 25. There are seven ships in various stages of construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, with two more in long-lead production.

The Freedom-variant LCS team is comprised of Lockheed Martin, shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine, naval architect Gibbs & Cox, and more than 800 suppliers in 42 states. The industry team invested over $ 100 million to modernize the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard, hire additional staff and train a new workforce. This private investment helped the shipyard achieve full-rate production and create new Midwest manufacturing jobs.